At least 19 people, including two children, were wounded when multiple gunmen opened fire at a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans, La., on Sunday. While no one had been arrested until Sunday evening, the FBI described the incident as "street violence."
Police saw three suspects running from the scene, not far from the French Quarter at the 7th Ward neighborhood, at about 1.50 p.m., according to The Associated Press. One of the suspects appeared to be between the ages of 18 and 22, and the police are searching for the gunmen.
Most the victims were grazed by bullets, and included 10 men and seven women. A boy and a girl, both 10 years old, were also grazed and injured. The children were said to be in good condition.
"It's strictly an act of street violence in New Orleans," Mary Beth Romig, a spokeswoman for the FBI in New Orleans, was quoted as saying. She stressed there was no reason to attribute the shooting to an act of terrorism.
According to Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas, only half of the 400 people who came out for the "second-line" procession – loose processions in which people dance down the street as per a New Orleans tradition – were at the location where the shooting occurred.
"These are unusual circumstances," Serpas was quoted as saying. "We have second lines which occur in the city of New Orleans virtually every weekend at this time of the year. We had a full complement of police officers. It appears that these 2 or 3 people just for a reason unknown to us, started shooting at towards, or in, the crowd. It was over in just a couple seconds."
